Daz Studio Basics 101. New Users help for starting with DS.

Hello, welcome to the first class for NEW USERS that still need to learn answers to the questions all first users might have.

This thread is for new people that need help with things that older users understand. Let me give you an example.

Do you know how to add a Primative Plane to your scene as a floor? If not, I will teach you how easy it is. If you know this you may not need the help I will offer in this topic. It will not cover more advanced topics like Smoothing and collision's settings. You can find help and topics on those more advanced features in the Commons Forum and other Forums.

I will answer each question to the best of my ability, if I do not know the answer I will seek help so you get the help you need. Every question will be answered to the person asking the question. Example: JANEDOE, "How do I add a Light?"

I will QUOTE the question and answer in this way. @JANEDOE: You can add a light with the Create Menu. You can add a Distant Light, works light a sun, a Point Light that works like a light bulb or a Spot light that is a Spot light. You will then need to position the new light. Do you need more Help?

I hope this will be a useful thread to many people as we go from here.

Comments

There are lots of information and tutorials and they are excellent but it is also
very easy to get lost of all that! I like the idea very much with the basic help
cause I am a newbie of DAZ even if I had the software for awhile!
Then you learn the basic, then you can pratise with lots of errors and trying
until you increase your skills and knowledge!
The forum is great as well cause other people who have better skills can also
teach and help other!

@AtticAnne: That is the IK control. When you have a model or part of a model selected that has moveable bones so it can be posed it will activate. The different color rings are the different ways the model can be posed. The little Dark line on each ring shows where the bone is set at that time. You can click and hold on one of the colors and rotate or move that section with your mouse. It comes in handy for small adjustments when posing or large ones when needed. If you make a mistake a click on your Undo Icon will put everything back to the last setting. Do you need more Info?

@AtticAnne: Yes, it is the same thing. Daz included it for people who like to do things more than one way. If you try it and find it easy it's a good tool. If you do not like it and prefer Parameters better you can just ignore it.

@AtticAnne: At the top of your Window you will find the Create Menu, open it. Select Create Primative. You will get a menu, the top section will let you pick which Primative you wish to make. Select Plane, the Size can be whatever you wish try 6 and the Drop down will let you pick inches, yards, meters just chose the one you prefer. In Divisions put a decent number like 24. That is how much detail will be in the object. For a plane 25 is a good place to start. It will load Flat in the center of your scene and be flat white. Need more Help with this?

Thats it. Now you can use it to pose your figure against and get the parts that are flat on the floor flat to the floor. Just do the best you can thats all any of us can do. Yes we can change the floor at any time. We can put color on it or a texture but those are questions to be answered when asked.

@ anikad: Jaderail's probably asleep. He's got an early morning ahead of him. Look under the Software forum/DAZ Studio Discussion/then find the thread Image on a Plane. Jaderail will be back with us when he's up and running tomorrow.

@Jaderail: I came back to my computer and got too busy having fun. I know you've gone to bed and hope that tomorrow won't be one of the bad days. Got some things ready to render and post here. Catch up with you sometime tomorrow.

@Anikad: I'm sorry I missed your question before I went to bed. AtticAnne was almost correct I did get some sleep but I'm still good for one more day, I have medical treatments Twice a week so I'm off line from 9pm US Cent on Friday nights and Monday nights. Today it was I just needed some rest. Now to your very good Question.

Once you have created your Primitive Plane it's, well plain. Select the Plane in your Scene Tab, now open your Surfaces Tab, Open Default. We now have a list of all the properties we can change. Let's look at Diffuse Color First. Click on the Bar of white with the three numbers in it. You now have your color picker, chose a color you like. Ta Da new color. But lt's just a little off what you want, click on one of the three numbers, and type a new one. The color changed again the three numbers are the RGB values for the color of the Bar. If you use a 2D paint program you may be familiar with them. If not look it them up on the net, they are a larger topic than I can cover.
But Wait thats just a Flat color, Change your color back to White 255,255,255. See the little down arrow beside the bar? Click that, you should have a menu that says Browse , None and Layered Image Editor. Select Browse, a file window opens for you, goto a folder you keep pictures in, select one that is square or very close to square. You should now see that picture on your Plane. That is how you can put a simple texture on your plane. Do you need more Info?

Great idea for a thread...even though I've been around for a while I'm going to lurk in case I learn something new. ; )

If you spot a place you can help just jump in. The more the merrier. I doubt I can teach you much about the basics.No problem, if I can help I will. You never know with the basics sometimes there are odd little things that you either never realise or just miss. ; )

Sorry I missed you tonight, Jade. After the fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy, we busted a watermelon. Just now got back on line. Yes, I'm still having fun. We can maybe catch up tomorrow afternoon late or evening.

On this one, I had saved as a scene with just the well and animals. I added a plane, surfaced it with a rock and grass ground, then added the sky background. The plane abruptly goes to the sky. What do I do about that to get a smoother transition?

Great idea for a thread...even though I've been around for a while I'm going to lurk in case I learn something new. ; )

If you spot a place you can help just jump in. The more the merrier. I doubt I can teach you much about the basics.

No problem, if I can help I will. You never know with the basics sometimes there are odd little things that you either never realise or just miss. ; )

edited for spelling

Like Jaderail said, the more the merrier. If nothing else, we may entertain you. Some of my work (a lot, really) makes me bust out laughling. It's always easier to laugh than to get mad or to cry.I agree with you humor is definitely the way to go at least with some of the things I do...; )
Your first renders are probably way better than mine ever were it took me forever to get the hang of doing things in DS.

I don't have as much free time these days but happy to help if I can...

On this one, I had saved as a scene with just the well and animals. I added a plane, surfaced it with a rock and grass ground, then added the sky background. The plane abruptly goes to the sky. What do I do about that to get a smoother transition?

Edited to attach picture. Thought that might help.

@AtticAnne: You can always add more planes and line them up to give you a better depth to the image. You can also try Larger planes to cover more area. Another tip is to move the plane so that the front edge is almost in the render, that way more of the plane is behind your props before you render. Just a few things to play with.

If you like I will show you how easy it is to use Deformers to add hills or mountians to your flat planes. Give me a few hours to get over my treatment and I can get started on that.